Midnight's Lullaby
by Last Lodge
Summary: Much like the heated stack of wood in front of me, she burned my skin, an infection that I will never be cured of. With the intensity of the first time she looked at me I knew I was a goner, she had all of me then, mind, body and soul. And she still has all of me, even as I lay crumbled in a heap of my own blood and tears as ash fills my lungs and my world burns to the ground.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So this has been in my head for a while now, and I have everything planned and written out. I am enthusiastic about this story, however I can honestly say that I know very little about military specifics, just hope my lack of knowledge doesn't take too much away from the story! Story is from EPOV! This is angst filled love story between Edward and Bella. Please Read and Review!**

***WARNING* Rated M for graphic violent scenes, language and lemons! ExB. All Human. **

**All Characters belong to Stephanie Meyer, plot belongs to me!**

**August 27, 2012**

"Losing light there Cullen, get back to base before McCarthy eats the remaining food rations." The static chuckle was eaten by the dull grey dusk reaching out for me, the sand whipped against my exposed face as I rounded the last of my perimeter check. "Copy that, Whitlock." My hand lowered the box back into my pocket. The heavy metal in my grasp peeked through the worn out windows of the sanded brick homes. I scanned the torn apart rooms searching for any anomalies when my eyes landed on a misplaced wooden chair next to the over turned table. My heart drummed heavily in my chest as I climbed through the window, _this is wrong, get out!_ My thoughts went haywire as I did a once over of the small untidy house and the remaining property. _Clear. _The only thing out of place was that damned chair. I have passed by this house twice a day for the past few weeks, I have memorized the layout of the scattered furniture. My boots fell loudly against the dirt floor as I approached the fallen chair, with a shrug I lifted it up to a standing position. The wind chose that moment to clatter through the unhinged window shutters and stir through the room, pushing the chair down with force. _It's just the wind, Cullen. Nothing to worry about._ I tried to reason with myself and shake off the anxious tingling that traveled through my icy veins, but the small voice in the back of my head kept repeating to get out of the house.

Before climbing through the window once more I turned to the now shadowed room, the remains of the sun's light cast long hollow shadows that clawed at each of the four crumbling walls.

"Coast is clear, coming back to post. Keep McCarthy's greedy hands from my food for me." The sound of laugher and howling escaped the small box in my breast pocket. "Copy that, Captain." The breeze picked up, cooling the air by a few degrees. After a while of backtracking, I saw a soft glow appear from behind sand dunes and a small group of tan camouflage cladded men laughing around a small fire.

There are four of them huddled together around the dancing flames. The largest of them tilted his head back and released a throaty laugh that caused the other members to chuckle. The black T-shirt that he wore barely covered the muscles that rippled through his arms and chest as the tightened with laughter. His thick hand reached out to steal a piece of meat from his neighbor who quickly slapped the intrusion away.

"Trying to starve me, Emmett?" I entered the lighted area and quickly took the plate of food from the young boy guarding the meal from the hungry eyes of the solider. A loose grin spread across the ripped man's face. "Do you see these guns?" He said as he pulled his fists to his head and flexed. "I need all the energy I can get if I need to save all of your asses! I already rescued young Jacob here from some nasty spider, aint that right boy?" My eyes fell on the russet skinned boy that stared up into the sky, pretending to not hear Emmett's patronizing words.

"Any further instructions received or are we supposed to stay out here in the middle of nowhere for another week?" The frustrated voice came from the opposite side of the campfire. He was leaned back on his pack sharpening a stick into a pointed end. "Because unlike the rest of you, I would rather not sit on my useless asses and actually get down to business and kill the sons of bitches we were assigned to."

James Nomad fit his name to a t. He is a ruthless killing machine, a man that has keen survival skills and excels at hand to hand combat, however his superior attitude keeps him away from the rest of our team. He preferred to complete his tasks alone, and honestly due to his aggression towards anything that moves, I prefer keeping him from the others as well.

The red and orange flames licked his iced irises as he took in each of us, the smirk on his face growing as I rolled my eyes at him, choosing to ignore his snarky tone.

"We leave first thing in the morning, move 20 k north on the outskirts of the next town. Further instructions will arrive once camp is set up." The last member of the group instructed to everyone as I took a vacant spot next to the fire and began to shovel food into my mouth. The conversation picked back up from before I entered from my patrols. I nodded to my second in command, Jasper Whitlock, in thanks. His laid back persona balanced James' sharp tongue.

"Young Jacob here finally wrote back to his lady friend back in the states." Emmett wiggled his fingers at the youngest member. "I met her once before I was stained here, what was I supposed to write her? It's not like I have a hot wife that I have known my whole life waiting for me." Jacob gave a pointed look at the burly man before winking and wolf whistling.

"You're too young to know how to handle a gal like my Rosie. She would eat you for breakfast and move onto a new man by lunch without even hesitating." Emmett puffed his chest out in pride. After Jacob found a worn photograph of the blonde bombshell known as Rosalie McCarthy, the young boy teased about stealing her for himself.

Their banter continued and Jasper was soon dragged into the argument of whose wife was the best out of the group as I watched the flames, a pair of chocolate brown eyes emerged from the thin air, scorching both my eyes and heart. It has been almost two years since I looked into those haunting eyes. I clenched my fingers into a fist, white knuckles forming and tendons emerging from my forearm. Two years since I held her small frame in my arms, protecting her from the world's horrors that she never fully understood. Two years since she whispered clear and sweet promises into my ear late at night after sneaking out of the all-girls dorm house on the green hill back in Washington.

Much like the heated stack of wood in front of me, she burned my skin, an infection that I will never be cured of. The intensity of the first time she looked at me I knew I was a goner, she had all of me then, mind body and soul. And yet I stare at a bonfire in a distant country instead at her beautiful flushed pink face.

_Isabella. Bella Swan. _

"Okay fellas, I'm going to call it a night, early day in the morning." And with that I retreated into the makeshift tent and curled into a rigid ball under the thick material sleeping bag.

Brown eyes staring at me through thick lashes, tears staining her cheeks, and mumbled 'no's' leaving her soft pink lips. She was all I dreamt of each night, the light that I found in this dark world, the light that I put out by running away.

With a shaky hand I reached into one of the many pockets of my pants, retrieving the folded letter. I opened it and scanned the blurred words until my eyes settled on the sentence that forced me back into the field.

_Edward, I am expecting…_

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My eyes fluttered open as the piercing beeping echoed through the early morning, waking the five of us and started our journey to the next town. I yawned and rubbed my eyes before rolling my sleeping bag into my pack and taking down the tent in record time. After a quick meal, the five of us jumped into the armored jeep and headed north, following the coordinates.

Jasper drove along the path that each of us had taken turns patrolling when Emmett began to tap quickly on Jasper's shoulder, telling him to pull over. "I saw something in the window of that broken down house up the road. I'm going to check it out." James scoffed before closing his eyes and tilting his head back to a resting position.

"Go ahead, but take the kid and James with you. Jasper and I will take the backside of the building." James muttered 'asshole' under his breath before climbing out of the vehicle and jogged to catch up to the other two.

Ducking and weaving between thin brush around the establishment, we approached the house and checked for any forced entry and then rounded to the sides making our way to the front.

"Nothing unusual back here, how about you guys?" Jasper hollered around the building.

"I guess it was a false alarm, mind playing tricks on me. Sorry guys." Emmett yelled back. Jasper rolled his eyes at me and whispered, "Need to put him down, Captain. He's losing his stuff." I chuckled under my breath and nudged Jasper with my elbow before advancing to the front of the house once more. "If there isn't anything head back to the-"

The blast threw Jasper and I back a few yards, sending our bodies onto the ground roughly, clumps of rock rained from the sky and crushed the two of us. The ringing in my ear was deafening as I struggled to pull myself off of the ground in vain. I looked through the haze at my legs to discover them crushed under a chunk of rock that made up one of the walls from the house.

Flames engulfed the house and everything trapped inside. Yells and cries for help reached my ears, and my own reflected the madness around me, my throat aching as I laid useless only yards away from my men, as my friends met their cruel fate. Smoke filled the air, darkening the clear sky and filling my lungs, scratching and irritating them further.

I scratched at the dirt under me, trying to drag myself out from under the rock, but only the skin from the tips of my fingers moved and tore themselves from the jagged rocks, leaving behind more blood in the soil.

My vision grew fuzzier, closing in on itself as my mind clouded. I couldn't focus, I needed to focus. Are there any other survivors?

_Jasper. Jasper was near me when the house exploded. _

Through hazy eyes, I searched for Jasper in the wreckage only to see scraps of human remains littered around the area, sticking to the area in congealed clumps. I let out another frustrated yell, tears ran freely down my cheeks, falling to the ground beneath me. I could taste the rusty blood in my throat from yelling, screaming.

Everything dimmed as my eyes began to flutter closed without my permission. This is it, this is what death is like. My thought were no longer coherent as reality sunk in that I am dying, I cried shamelessly for what could have been, I chose to be here instead of safe in the states. I chose this death.

My eyes closed one more time, not opening again.

_Would it mean anything if I told you that you were the last thing on my mind, Bella? _

_I love you. I'm sorry. Goodbye. _

**Hope you enjoyed it! I tried to not be so graphic in the opening chapter, however the next few chapters will be pretty gruesome. Fair warning! **

**Please Read and Review!**

**-Benjamin Lodge**


	2. Chapter 2

**There is barely violence (just rough play) or build up in this chapter, mainly just filler for what is to come with the next chapter! **

**Again all characters belong to SM! **

**Chapter Two:**

My eye lids felt weighed down, refusing to open. I writhed in pain, every inch of my skin was bruised or cut open by debris. I willed my legs and toes to move, testing if they were completely broken by the sediment that landed on them, but my body refused to complete the task, begging to rest and regain strength. My lips formed ghosted words that never released a sound. The ringing in my ears slowed my thoughts, forming nothing but mush. I had no plan, no strategy on how to drag my ass off the ground and make my way to cover. My breath slowed and my clamoring heart evened out. Sleep. I need to sleep. Dark bliss formed behind my closed eyes.

_No! Stay awake, whoever put that bomb in the house will be back! Get to safety!_

A small smirk crept onto my lips. Glad my logical side was still awake, too bad he no longer had authority. And with that thought I drifted off into a dream like stake where a smiling brunette welcomed me with open arms.

Footsteps crunching over remains of the house and quick whispers surrounded me, forced me to peel open my eyes and stir me conscious. The ringing from the explosion dulled and is replaced by the hurried thumping of my heart that seemed to jump in my throat. By what words I could pick out from the language encircling, I knew I wasn't about to be rescued or saved. I knew I was going to be taken, I trained for this, but the moment feels so surreal when hands and weapons poke and prod me, forcing me reveal that I am indeed alive. The voices grow louder and louder around me, increasing as the rock trapping my legs down is roughly twisted and then thrown off of me. A raspy plead escapes my lips as I'm dragged to stand on my feet, as soon as all of my weight is on my fractured legs, I let loose a piercing wail, causing the voices to quiet before I am led to a vehicle.

Each step is more painful than the last, my legs are broken, I can barely move them, all my weight is leaning onto the two men escorting me. I grit my teeth together to keep the yells that are pulled violently from my chest from getting too loud. Pain shoots up from the open tears in my flesh throughout my body, stinging every nerve.

_They want me in pain, weak. I have to be strong, Cullen. I have to pull through this. _

I knew I was not going to survive for long. I felt my heart slow with each time my feet shuffled through the dusty ground. I don't have the energy to continue, everything hurts, even keeping my eyes open pained me.

I was thrown carelessly into the back seat and my eyes finally began to flutter shut, and I began whispering my final farewells to the woman I loved when a loud echo sounded, shaking the vehicle and was followed by rough shouts surrounded the vehicle. I'm not alone, someone else is survived the explosion. I fought to open my eyes to see who it is that will be with me.

The remaining blood in my body chilled, my stomach dropped and my heart quickened again. It is a cursed blessing that I am not alone.

_You selfish bastard, how could you wish to have one of your men, one of your FRIENDS be damned to the same tortured fate as you? _

My heart sank further into my chest, my breathing become hollow and quick. I began to panic as the shouting grew louder and closer until a warm body hit me, forcing me into the cool metaled door.

"Captain? Edward, wake up man…" The whispers are back, and they begin to urge me to open my eyes.

_You don't think I'm trying? Fucking hell man…_

I grunt loudly as my eyes widened and I see Jasper leaning towards me. Blood is matted to one side of his head, plastering his sandy blonde hair to his forehead. The red crept through his eyebrows and pushed through to his lashes, framing his dark blue eyes with crimson. His eyes are wild and flittering all over my face, taking me in.

I instantly began to calm down as I looked him over. Other than bruises covering every exposed area and the open sore on the side of his head, he looked uninjured. I made Jasper my second in command for a reason, and now that I know that he is as okay as can be in this situation, I took a deep necessary breath before speaking.

_You can make it out of this, WE can make it out of this. _

Hope swelled through me, it filled me with rage as the faces of Emmett, James and young Jacob raced through my mind. We needed a plan to break free, to make the sons of bitches pay for the demise of three amazing men.

"We need a plan, we can make it out of this is we have a plan. Any ideas Whitlock?" Together we huddled our stiff bodies to construct an escape plan until two men climbed into the front seat and began to drive with the passenger driver aiming his weapon at the two of us.

The ride was long and with each passing mile, I could feel the adrenaline rush Jasper's presence gave me begin to wear off. The car pulled over to the side of the road and the passenger driver got out and opened Jasper's door before hitting him in the face with the butt of his gun, knocking him out cold. I struggled against the ties they put on me, cutting into my skin and drawing more blood from me. When he opened my door I glared openly at him, making eye contact and not backing down from our staring contest, even when the gun came was raised into the air, aiming for my face as well.

_Hit me. Hit me!_

"Hit Me!" I yelled before the depths of pitch black wrapped itself around my vision, carrying me away.

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I am getting real sick and tired of fucking waking up with hooded eyes and a pounding headache. I roll over to see Jasper still unconscious and leaning on the opposite side of the wall from me.

The room is what I would imagine hell to smell like, the smell induced me to release my stomachs contents on the floor. I continued to gag until nothing but burning liquid came out.

_Thanks for adding puke to the list of things this room stinks of._

"It smells of urine in here…where the fuck are we? Did you see?" Jasper groaned out before sitting up and began questioning me.

Molding stone walls made up the large room that held us prisoner. Cages lined one of the four walls, each contained a single wooden container. The lighting was dim and my eyes strained to watch Jasper as he struggled to stand and make his way across the room to sit by me. The temperature is nearly freezing, and I can already begin to feel my fingers, nose and ears numbing, taking away the stinging pain spread over me.

"So… wanna hear a knock-knock joke?"

**Okay, there will only be one or two (two is the maximum) chapters that will be containing the questioning methods onto our soldiers. They will be graphic, fair warning! **

**We are nearing our return to the States though! So stay tuned for reuniting lovers and lemons! **

**I have been listening to the same few songs for a few days to get into the right mind set that this story needs me to be, hope I did it justice!**

**Please leave your thoughts and comments, Thanks for sticking with me! **

**-Benjamin Lodge**


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